Christian and Gloria
by kimgreenday
Summary: Welcome to the aftermath of the end of the world, where half the world has been shrunk down.  21st Century Breakdown fanfic
1. Song of the Century

**Part 1 - Song of the Century**  
><em>" . . . panic, and promise, and prosperity . . ."<em>

Static.

That's all that could be heard or seen on radios and televisions. No more Internet. No more cable. No more phone lines or cells. Just static.

The year 2039 came with many advancements. Solar chargeable automobiles and solar powered cell phones. No more burning of fossil fuels. New discoveries in science and medicine. And, of course, most importantly: the ability to travel across the vast universe.

The year 2039 also brought what was known as the Elixir. An alien artifact discovered on a far away, seemingly lifeless planet, the Elixir puzzled Earth scientists. It was shaped like a pillar, half the size of the Statue of Liberty, and had unknown, alien symbols scrawled upon it. The most striking thing about the Elixir was the unimaginable power it radiated. Scientists realized that anyone who came into contact with the Elixir would be cured of anything, from common colds to cancer. The Elixir of Life.

It was taken to a secret American government base in the desert for research. Small pieces were cut out of the Elixir for study. The amazing reality was that the Elixir would immediately regenerate itself when a piece was taken from it. An inexhaustible source of Elixir. Jobs were given for people just to break it apart and ship it all around the world for international scientific study. It had no visible or internal side effects present at anytime.

After ten years of countless trials, research, and tests, in the beginning of 2049, the Elixir was available to the general public. It remained in the desert base, and was sent out from there. It was used as medicine to cure simple symptoms or life threatening diseases. Soon, it was mixed with food and beverages when scientists discovered that regular contact with Elixir stretched life spans beyond what was thought possible.

In the year 2050, the Elixir was all but worshiped. In churches, synagogues, and the holy places of every other religion, thanks was given to God or gods for the Elixir. This was also the year that the world began to lose all sense of moral. People became addicted to Elixir, like a drug. It was an addiction that went beyond simple Earth lives were based on only getting more Elixir. They attacked, mauled, and killed to get more. They were paranoid of the world around them. Locked up in asylums and mental hospitals, the worst Elixir addicts were called Burnouts. People's lives were so based on Elixir that it continued to be distributed and used in everyday lives, because no one could imagine life without it.

2055. The year that everything fell apart. People were dropping dead. Literally. The deaths occurred so quickly that scientists couldn't come up with anything near a logical explanation. Everyday, millions would be gone. Every unexplained death had the same symptoms, according to scientists. It seemed as if their genetic code was being rewritten, but their bodies couldn't take the change. Ratios showed that 90% of the population had the same occurrence, living or dead. Only 10% survived the change of their genetics, which resulted in so many deaths. None of the Burnouts died.

The mutation of the people's genetic code became known as the Change. It was a painful experience that only a few select people could survive, if their body managed to agree with it. The Change gave people amazing Powers, ranging from elemental control to telepathy. There was one ultimate price, though. Due to the imbalance of having a Power, their bodies shrank in size, leaving them about six inches tall. People with the Change seemed to quickly adapt. They could go without food for days and use their Powers to survive the quickly changing Earth. The young ones were the few that had the strength to live through the change.

Naturally, the world was thrown into chaos. A little less than 80% of the population was dead. Half were Changed, shrunken with Powers. And the other half of the new population who hadn't Changed either stayed normal, also known as Normies, or were Burnouts. The Burnouts all escaped from their padded cells and straightjackets. They roamed the world, still craving Elixir and finding it in any way they could; attacking, mauling, killing. The normal people couldn't keep control of the world, so everything went down.

The new world of danger and death became known as the Static Age. No one was around to control Internet connection or maintain phone towers. The only way to talk was to meet people face to face, and although people could still easily be found, there was the high chance of them being a Burnout. The tiny Changed people were shunned by the new paranoid society because they were thought to be unnatural monsters and the cause of the chaos. Some towns were seemingly abandoned. Others were full of normal people, Normie towns, havens from the outside, away from Burnouts and the Changed. But in most of the world, there was only one noise, one everlasting sound.

Static.


	2. 21st Century Breakdown

**Part 2 - 21st Century Breakdown**  
><em>" . . . made of poison and blood . . ."<em>

The steeple of the chapel seemed to pierce the low clouds that hung in the pink and orange sky. The sunset shot rays of light through the breezy puffs and shone brilliantly on the church as if it really was sign of sanctuary. Dead, dry leaves coated the cracked sidewalks and unkempt streets. Empty, solar-powered vehicles littered to slowly withering asphalt of the road, unoccupied for ages. The neighborhood was crowded with apartment buildings on each side, and it seemed that the chapel had been squeezed in at the last minute. It stood out against everything else that lined up the streets with it's ancient gothic architecture. It was a wonder how a building so old could remain so perfectly intact, at least from the outside. The tall door was half-open, almost in a welcoming token.

Three very small figures darted along the broken leaves, sprinting. There was no doubt that all three of them were humanoid, but they hardly looked human at all. The size was a dead give away, of course, but there was also the sharp, angular, unnatural features they all had. In the lead of the group was a boy, the oldest, maybe seventeen or eighteen. Following close behind were two girls, side by side. The older girl, seventeen years old, kept the same pace as the younger one purposely, protectively.

"Rio, they aren't following anymore!" the older girl panted as loudly as she could to the boy. She stopped running, along with the younger girl, who was breathing hard, trying to catch her breath. "Airmid's about to pass out, so stop!" the older girl ordered to the boy firmly. The little eleven year-old, Airmid, walked slowly to the wall of the chapel and sat down against it, still gulping air.

The boy, Rio, stopped where he was. His sandy blond hair fell into his auburn eyes as he turned around the face the girls. Gasping for air as well he breathed, "Damn Burnouts! How the hell are we supposed to do anything with them around?" Rio huffed angrily.

"Now what're we gonna do?" Airmid sighed, finally able to breath a little normally. She had an obvious Irish accent, complete with long, curly red hair and pale, freckled skin.

The older girl, Gloria, looked up at the chapel curiously, bending her neck back to see the top of it. It seemed to stretch on forever into the sky. "It's going to be dark soon," Gloria said gravely. "You know how the Burnouts get at night. We need to stay off the streets this time." Although there didn't seem to be any Burnouts in this part of the town, Gloria just wanted to be secure. "Maybe in here?" she pointed to the chapel with the open door.

"So, you're idea of a safe place is also a way to convert us?" Rio smirked darkly. Gloria glared at him with narrowed eyes. To Gloria, his Southern drawl was sometimes cute. At other times, it was downright irritating. He always teased her for keeping her Catholic faith despite the hell the world had been put through.

That's why she was proud of her name, Gloria. Her parents had been very religious, and the name "Gloria" was so out-of-date that it was considered unique. Rio was named after the Rio Grande River in southern Texas, and Airmid, born in Ireland, was named after a mythical Celtic goddess of healing.

"Yes, Rio," Gloria replied dryly. "Because my goal in life is to make sure that every sane person practices the Catholic faith." Her voice was coated heavily with sarcasm. Gloria's face quickly turned serious. "Did you not notice that the door to the chapel is open?" she said incredulously and pointed at the door. "Burnouts never leave doors open when they're in a building. There can't be any in there." A particularly useful thing about Burnouts was how predictable they were at times. Their paranoia made them seal themselves in any buildings they entered. Gloria knew the chapel was the group's best bet for safety, or at least as safe as any Changed could be in a town infested with Burnouts.

"Then by all means," Rio drawled as he politely motioned to the door. "Ladies first, Gloria" he nodded at her. Gloria shot another squinted glare at him, but took Airmid's hand and preceded to the door that loomed high above them. Luckily, the doorstep wasn't too elevated, so the three of them were able to reach the door easily.

There was no doubt that the church had been abandoned long ago. It seemed as if no one had set foot in there since the Change outbreak. That had been two years ago. It was now 2057. Two long years of being on the run. Avoiding Burnouts and Normies alike because both posed a threat to the Changed like Gloria, Rio, and Airmid. The parlor was covered in layers of dust and dirt. The chandeliers than hung from above were dressed in cobwebs and even more dust. Candles were still shoved into the chandeliers. Gloria gazed at the unlit candles with deep fascination and wonder.

"Hey, how much you wanna bet I can light up those from right here?" Gloria turned to Rio with a wayward grin on her face. "Any advice for your apprentice, master?"

"Don't screw it up?" Rio answered with a questioning shrug. It wasn't a secret that Rio was the most controlled and experienced when it came to using his Power, so Gloria and Airmid often joked about him being their teacher.

"I'll take note of that," said Gloria as she began to focus her mind away from any wandering thoughts. She kept her gaze on the chandlers above her steadily. After a few tense moment of complete silence, the wicks of the candles burst into bright, glowing flames. The room was lit instantly, making it look a little cheerier.

"My turn?" Airmid asked with an excited bounce in her step as she rushed to the center of the parlor.

Rio nodded. "All yours, darlin'."

The little girl knelt to the ground calmly, losing all her bubbliness and turning it into total seriousness. She clasped her hands in an almost prayerful position, but kept them on her lap and let her chin fall onto her chest. Using Powers at times of extreme emotion was one of the things most avoided. It made the Powers unpredictable and at times, uncontrollable. Although Airmid's Power, healing and cleansing, wasn't much of a physical threat, there was always the off chance that something could go wrong.

Gloria gazed at Airmid worriedly. There had been a few instances where the little girl had worked her mind too hard and passed out from exhaustion. "Airmid, take your time," Gloria said cautiously, "No need to ru-" Before she could finish, the parlor was suddenly clean of all dirt and grime. The room looked just about brand-new. The candles shone above, making the newly cleaned room still shine eerily. "Never mind, then."

The pick-up truck suddenly hit a hard bump on the road, making it jolt slightly. Christian quickly sprang into a seated position, looking around wildly. His surroundings were exactly as he left them before he fell asleep. The truck was still zooming past Middle-of-nowhere, USA. Before taking off, he and his friends had shoved a full-sized mattress onto the bed of the pick-up truck to make it more comfortable. The sun was almost all the way down, meaning Christian had not been out very long, which would explain why he was still sleepy. He yawned and stretched his arms over his head, letting the wind whip through his fingers.

When he looked to his right, he was greeted by a less than enjoyable sight: Diego and Lotus in an embrace, unaware that Christian was awake.

Christian cleared his throat loudly. "Would you two like to move this make-out session to the hood of the truck? Probably more exciting that way."

"There's no bed on the hood of the truck, brah," Diego said as he pried himself away from Lotus with a sly smile. Lotus sighed and fixed her thick, black hair delicately.

Frowning, Christian looked around, still bleary eyed. Something suddenly struck him as he looked at Diego and Lotus again. 'If Lotus and Diego are out here,' he though slowly, 'then that means . . .' He turned to look in the window of the driver's seat with wide eyes.

"Jae is _driving_?" Christian shouted loudly in bewilderment, suddenly wide awake. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"What?" Diego said innocently, "The kid's been begging to drive for months now."

_"He's twelve!"_

"Yeah, so? I started driving when I was way younger than him."

"He didn't grow up in East L.A.!"

"Ouch, man," Diego smirked.

"Oh, Christian, you worry so much!" Lotus shook her head exasperatedly. "There is nothing to crash into out here, nothing," she said in her exotic Chinese accent. "Besides, my brother has driven before."

"Really, when?" Christian said skeptically.

"Our dad let him back the car out of the driveway, once," she smirked. Unlike other Normies, Lotus and Jae felt no remorse when they mentioned their parents. They had moved on, looking at what was laying ahead only.

Diego sighed, ran his hand through his blond hair, and slid the window of the driver's seat open, revealing the twelve year-old, Jae, behind the wheel of the pick-up truck. "Party's over, kid," Diego called to Jae. "Christian's awake."

"Awww! I was just getting started!" Jae groaned as he put the truck into a neck-breaking stop, making the three Normies on the mattress fall over. Christian held his tongue before he used it as an example for exactly why Jae shouldn't have been driving.

After much arguing of who would drive next, everyone finally got settled again. Diego was behind the wheel, Christian was in the passenger seat, Lotus and Jae lay together on the bed of the truck. The nothingness of the Oklahoma landscape continued to whip passed them. There was no rush to get to nowhere, which was where they were going. But there was also no such things as speed limits either. Wherever they were going (they didn't even know), they were getting there fast.

Christian closed his eyes as laid his head against the headrest of his seat, thinking. Luckily, food didn't spoil, what with all the new tech. Of course, all food stocked in the truck had Elixir mixed into it, so there was no avoiding consuming the very thing that had mutilated Earth. Still, the Elixir-filled food made it easier on the road. No need to stop at every gas station to see if anything edible was there. Besides, there was hardly a chance they would turn into Burnouts; it would have happened by now. The solar-chargeable truck meant they only needed sunlight to get around. Normally, they'd drive all night, then stop somewhere, like an empty motel (making sure the doors were open to be sure there were no Burnouts), and rest to let the truck recharge in the sun.

"Woah, what's that?" Diego said, interrupting Christian's wandering thoughts. "Dude, a town's coming up." Diego shoved Christian until he opened his eyes. "No lights in it."

"Dammit!" Christian growled. "Burnout city!" No lights, no Normies, just Burnouts. Not that they were so bent on finding a Normie town, but it would make it easier to find a place to stay for the night, instead of wondering if a Burnout was suddenly going to break in and attack.

"Could just mean that nobody's home," Diego shrugged, not slowing down one bit. Even if it was a Burnout infested town, it was better than nothing. It was too dangerous to sleep in the truck at night. At least in a town, there were more escape routes and hiding places available. Even if the truck was stolen (which there was a very slim possibility it would), Christian knew Diego could just hot wire another solar powered vehicle. No worries. Besides, Burnouts fled at the sight of a gun, and the truck was loaded with them.

"Slow down a little," Christian warned as they entered the dead, empty streets of the town.

Suddenly, there was a the piercing chorus of screams running through the air. Both Christian and Diego gasped as they looked behind them. A crowd of Burnouts were raging down the street in a frenzy. There was no doubt that they were headed straight for them. Lotus and Jae simply stared out at the crowd from the bed of the truck, too shocked to move.

"Floor it!" Christian shouted to Diego. After a moments hesitation, Diego did as he was told. The truck zoomed off, but Burnouts were known to be fast runners, what with all the Elixir in their bodies. "You two! Keep your heads down!" shouted Christian to Lotus and Jae as he slid the back window open.

Lotus quickly ducked down protectively. Jae stayed where he was, fear written all over his face. After a few frantic cries in Chinese from Lotus, the boy put his head down as well.

"Go faster! Guns won't scare a pack like that away!" Christian said frustratedly.

"This is as fast as this thing goes!" Diego said through gritted teeth as he focused on the road. "We can't out-drive them. We need to find a place, NOW!"

Christian looked out at the rapidly passing buildings. "Make a sharp turn to throw them off, then find the first open door you see!"

Lotus and Jae both cried out in the back of the truck as Diego made an unexpected swerve into a barren street. The sun was going down. Christian knew they were running out of time. Once the sun was gone, nothing was safe from Burnouts. The road behind them was clear, no Burnouts left, thankfully. But it wasn't over.

"There!" Christian in ordered the moment he saw an open door on one of the buildings. "That's our best bet!"

Diego slammed down hard on the brakes, almost making Christian hit his head on the dashboard. Both car doors opened in a flash, and the two passengers in the back jumped out too. Once Diego swiftly cut off the engine of the truck, all four of the teens ran to the door. The building had to be at least three stories high, complete with a tall steeple and a big bell tower.

What they didn't notice was the flickering light coming from the opening of the door.

"What the hell?" Christian gasped as he closed the chapel door behind him. The place was lit by chandeliers. The candles still had a lot of wax left, so it had been quite recently. It was also shockingly clean on the inside, something that was simply unusual.

"Er . . . I think someone beat us here," Jae said softly.

"We . . . We should leave. I do not want to be here, please," Lotus said in a slightly trembling voice as she looked over the room with wide eyes. "It does not look right."

"And go where?" Diego sighed exasperatedly. "The damn Burnouts are gonna be hard to get by now that it's nighttime. Besides, I don't see anyone in here, anyway."

Christian scanned the room quietly. There was no visible source of life besides the candles and cleanness of the room. Whoever had been there recently had probably left, he tried to assure himself. Or just went to a different room.

There was no choice either way. Being inside was always better than being outside.


	3. Know Your Enemy

**Part 3 - Know Your Enemy**

_" . . . revolt against the honor to obey . . ."_

"I'm telling you, there's someone here!" Airmid protested stubbornly. "I know I heard the front door close!"

Gloria and Rio stared at the little girl skeptically. Airmid had wandered off on her own to work on cleansing the rest of the church. There were too many rooms to count, so she had given up on it already. Gloria had been searching for her when the little girl had ran to her, screaming about hearing various voices and loud footsteps in the parlor.

"That's just plain impossible," Rio argued, "Burnouts never come into a place that has lights on! That's the whole point of Gloria lighting the candles."

"I know!" Airmid practically screeched. "But I heard voices!"

Rio groaned loudly and began, "Burnouts never-"

"I know!"

"What if they weren't Burnouts?" Gloria interrupted the heated argument. There were a few tense moments of silence and deep thought.

Staring at Gloria as if he forgot she was there, Rio said softly, "Are you sayin' what I think you're sayin'? Normals? Here?" Gloria flinched the moment he said "Normals". There was no telling how Normal people reacted to the Changed. Most of the time, it wasn't a very positive reaction.

"Look, I'm not saying there's anyone even here, but if there is, then it would most likely be Normals," Gloria explained hastily. "And there's only one way to find out."

"No!" Airmid wailed and grabbed Gloria's hand to keep her from walking to the parlor. "Th-They'll see you, and then they'll kill you!"

"Fine, we'll all go, and we'll just check," Gloria said, still very skeptical about the whole situation. She just couldn't believe that after all their hard work of finding a safe place to stay, there was a slight chance they would have to clear out.

The group of Normals snuck through the silent chapel cautiously. Many of the rooms in the front of the church were eeriely clean, while the farther rooms were covered in layers of dust and cobwebs, which looked so much more natural. The main chamber, with the pews and the altar, was one of the clean rooms. Candles had been lit in there as well.

"I'm so hungry," Jae complained softly, after being told many times to stay quiet. A twelve year-old's patience only lasted so long, as the others had found long ago.

"Shhh, we will get food from the truck in the morning," Lotus replied in a hushed voice.

"I don't see why we even have to be quiet!" Diego ranted in a somewhat soft, but frustrated tone. "We've been here half an hour, and this place is still a ghost town! This place is a pretty good find, though," Diego pondered aloud. "I wouldn't mind staying here a while. What about you guys?"

"This place is still very spooky to me . . ." Lotus replied devotedly, but there was still some sort of hope in her eyes as she looked around the empty chamber. They'd already gone in a complete circle around the place and until they were back in the parlor. "But as long as there is no one here . . ." her voice trailed off.

"I think this place is cool!" Jae answered, not bothering to keep his voice down at all. No one shushed him this time. It seemed as if, as Diego had said, this place was a ghost town. Even Christian was starting to believe it . . . a little.

"I guess . . . this would be the safest place to be . . . for now, at least," Christian added. He walked over out of the main chamber and back to the parlor. Approaching one of the huge, curtained windows, Christian sighed. Slowly pushing the red fabric aside, he peered out the glass. Along with everything else in the parlor, the window was clean, but not from the outside. In the streets, Christian could see wandering Burnouts sparsely.

Yep, definantly the safest place at the moment.

The three Changed crept through the hollowed halls of the chapel in silence. Even though Gloria knew how serious the situation might be, she found herself stopping and staring at the elegant architecture. It's ancient gothic designs were so different than anything she'd ever seen before. And she was pretty easily distracted and curious, on top of that.

When she wasn't looking at the hallway before her, Gloria slammed into Rio's back. He'd stopped in the mid-step so suddenly she hadn't had time to react. A small note of complaint suddenly died her throat as Rio urgently put his hand over her mouth to quiet her.

Muffled voices carried along the corridor. They were somewhat hushed, but the sounds were growing louder. Gloria stared at Rio, heart fluttering. Airmid was looking down the hallway with big eyes, almost as if she wanted to turn around and bolt. Gloria grabbed Airmid's shoulder and gave her a "don't even think about it" look. Things were already freaky enough without Airmid getting lost.

"What do we do?" Gloria asked so softly she could hardly hear her own voice.

"We can't be sure if they're Burnouts or Normals yet," Rio replied slowly. "And I don't think we should stick around to find out."

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Gloria replied louder than she expected to. "We ran forever to get away from those damn Burnouts, and we're just gonna go back out there again?"

"Do you got a better idea?"

"Yes," Gloria spat. "We just stay on the west side of the chapel, away from this general area. If they're Normal, they're probably just passing through."

"And if they're Burnouts?" Rio asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Then we're screwed," she replied bluntly. "There's Burnouts right outside the chapel. I saw them though one of the low windows. If there are Burnouts in here, we wouldn't be doing much better out there." Airmid simply watched the argument go back and forth, never intruding. After two years of being on the run, it had to be a pretty systematic thing. "Besides, you could just use your amazing Power to barricade any doors if we need to." Rio's Power was in fact amazing. The ability to move things with his mind. Telekinesis. With a scowl, Rio made the curtains about them flutter, as if to punctuate Gloria's words.

"Fine."

"Fine."

Hours had passed, but there was still quite some time left until sunrise. There had been no disturbances from anywhere in the chapel, which was probably a good thing. Christian had stretched himself on the back pew of the main chamber. He was extremely bored, despite all the excitement that had taken place a few hours ago in the truck.

Diego and Lotus sat together quietly, wrapped up in each others' arms. They whispered softly back and forth, but they were far in the front pew of the church, so they couldn't be heard. At least the room was big enough that they could be ignored by Christian, who usually found himself rolling his eyes at their embraces.

Jae sat somewhere in the middle, playing with his Nintendo DS. Luckily, it was solar rechargeable. When the group had first started on the road, they'd grabbed (stolen) a lot of things from a local WalMart, including plenty of electronics for entertainment. Almost everything was solar chargeable, which came in handy when trying to keep Jae from getting into trouble from boredom.

Stretching his arms up, Christian yawned dully. The moment he sat up, all three pairs of eyes were on him. Jae returned to his game moments later, but Diego and Lotus still stared at him, puzzled.

"Going somewhere?" Diego asked, frowning.

"Relax, I'm just going for a walk around the place again," Christian replied, scratching the back of his head.

"Are you sure that is a good idea?" Lotus asked skeptically.

"Didn't we establish that this place was safe?" Christian raised his eyebrows in mock surprise.

"Do whatever you want. We're not going anywhere," Diego returned his gaze to Lotus mischievously.

After pretending to gag, Christian walked through the open doors of the main chamber and out to the hallway. "And keep an eye on Jae," he shouted. "You know how he is!"

The hallways of the chapel were spooky quiet, though the eerie silence was something Christian was used to after two years. Endless hallways led to God knew where were unlit by the candles. The light was something that still puzzled Christian, but he kept to the hallways that were lit. At a certain point, the rooms stopped being clean and started to be as dusty as they were expected to, as if someone had gotten bored with the dusting.

One room in particular caught Christian's eye. Every single chamber in the church had a labeled door. "Piano Rehearsal Room" was written on the door that Christian eyed curiously. The handle was wrought with cobwebs and dust, but it opened easily. It was one of the few doors that were closed.

In the room, it was evident no one had cleaned it. There were several pianos. All of them were layered in so much dust that it was impossible to tell their colors. The ceiling was low, and like other rooms, there were rafters at the top. Like all the walls in the chapel, the room was soundproofed. At least it looked like it was, from the thickness of the concrete.

Deciding against closing the door behind him, Christian walked carefully to the biggest piano. It probably once had a shiny black finish, but now, it was dull and web-covered. There were a few unlit candles in the room, and the only illumination came from the huge skylight on the low ceiling and the candles from the hallway. Fortunately, the stars were always bright in Oklahoma and the moon was full.

A single, strong note rang out through the room as Christian pressed his index finger on one of the dusty keys of the piano. It sounded beautiful, at least compared to anything he had heard in quite a while. It had been so long since he'd resigned himself to playing the ivory keys, and he knew it might be the last chance he would get in a while.

Gloria was the only one in the room that heard the music pouring into the air. Rio and Airmid were fast asleep, curled up together, like an older brother comforting a younger sister. (Gloria wished desperately that she was big enough to hold a camera to get a picture of that.) As they had agreed, the three Changed found a room on the west side of the chapel, just to be safe.

Not all of them could sleep at the same time, so either Gloria or Rio would stay awake, just in case they needed to be alerted of something. They did this in any situation. They were always in danger, being Changed. Airmid was much too young and too easily bored to be on guard duty. So, tonight was Gloria's night.

The haunting melody was so soft and sweet that it took Gloria a few minutes to decide whether she was really hearing it, or if she was just finally going crazy. Looking over at her friends, she wondered if she should wake them up. She had a deep desire to investigate where the music was coming from. Rio never wanted to investigate anything, so she decided against waking him up. He often mistook her bravery and curiosity for idiocy. And she didn't blame him.

The attic was where they were sleeping for the night. There was clearly a mouse hole that led to another room on one side of the room. It would prove to be useful if they needed a quick escape. Gloria realized the music came from the little mouse hole in the wall. It had to be one of the Normals playing a piano. She knew it. It was unheard of for Burnouts to do things like play instruments.

Looking back at Rio and Airmid one more time, Gloria made her final decision. "Know the enemy." That's what her father had always said. When he was alive, at least. If she knew which area the Normals were staying, maybe she'd know the best place for she and her friends to hide. Despite all that, she knew deep down that she was also extremely curious, as she always had been. "Curiosty killed the cat." That was something else her father told her.

The mouse hole led to the rafters of a room. Gloria's breath caught as she looked down at the floor from the rafters. The fall would surely kill her, if not injure her beyond repair, no matter how hard Airmid would try to heal her. Steeling herself, Gloria balanced her body and walked across the long, not daring to ever look down.

By the time Gloria finally arrived at the room were the music was, the rafters had sloped down quite a bit. The fall to the ground wouldn't be as bad in the room of the music. Pianos took up much of the room, but there was only one she was looking at: the one where a Normal as playing a soft, soothing melody. Her heart skipped a beat as the situation suddenly seemed to reach her. Relaxing herself, she knew she had to keep quiet, if she didn't want to be noticed.

The rafters began to creak slightly, but quite suddenly. Gasping in surprise Gloria dropped to her knees, trying to balance out her weight evenly. The wood of that particular rafter was rotting, and it was a miracle it hadn't split yet. Holding her breath, Gloria prayed for the creaking to stop, and it did. Letting out a very small sigh of relief, she decided that going back would be too dangerous, considering how her weight on the wood might have broken it even more. Staying calm and getting out of there by going forward was her best bet, she knew.

Feeling like a ninja, Gloria crept slowly forward on the rafter, begging that it wouldn't creak, or worse, break. The fall surely wouldn't kill her. But the Normal might.

A sharp, snapping sound rang out through the room suddenly. Gloria gasped in surprise when she realized it was coming from directly beneath her. The rotted wood was breaking apart. Bringing herself to her feet, Gloria made a mad dash for the other side of the rafter that would lead to the next room.

_SNAP_!

Suddenly, the rafter beneath her was gone. The quick, cool air whipped around Gloria's small body as she fell downward. With a loud, painful thud, she hit the floor hard. Groaning in pain, she still managed to dodge a few falling pieces of wood from the rafter as they rained down upon her. Her back ached horribly, but spontaneously, nothing to be seemed broken. Her flexible, tough Changed body did come in handy after all.

One thing was certain: the piano playing had stopped. With a grunt, Gloria forced herself into a sitting position, her body's pain screaming in protest. The Normal at the piano was frozen to his spot, his body still facing th piano, but his head was turned, looking down at Gloria. They both regarded each other with wide eyes, waiting for the other to make the first move.

The Normal boy slowly stood up from the piano bench, the floorboards creaking as he did so. Gloria's vision was fading in and out as every footstep brought the Normal closer to her, due to the extreme pain her body had just been forced through. He was slowly crouching as he got closer, his face a mask of shock and extreme surprise. He defiantly had not seen her coming. Not even a Burnout would have.

Gloria's vision was fully regained the moment the boy was right over her, looking down. Crouching even lower, he seemed to want a better look. Without any warning, Gloria's Changed instincts went on red alert. She sprang up, making the Normal pull back in surprise with a small gasp. He suddenly scowled, which wasn't a good sign. Putting his hands palm-down on each side of Gloria, he was about to lean forward again.

This time, Gloria didn't give him a chance to do so.

With a shriek, fire erupted from Gloria's body and flew straight to the Normal's incoming face. The boy roared in a deafening voice, throwing himself backward instinctively from the fire-starter. The vibration of his falling body hitting the floor almost made Gloria's weak legs give in.

Gloria wasted no time, though. The moment the Normal was preoccupied with the fire, she turned on her heels and ran out the open door of the piano room. Her Changed speed carried her far away from the Normal boy before she could even hear his thudding footsteps behind her. He was royally pissed, Gloria knew for a fact. By the speed of the thudding, she could guess he was running as fast as he could muster. With the last of her desperate instincts, she knew to lead him in the opposite direction of where Rio and Airmid were.

_Idiot_! She scolded herself, letting her inner voice beat the crap out of her on the inside. _You are the stupidest idiot alive_! This was all on her, she knew. Her own stupid "investigating" had led to this, her death that she was resigning herself to.

_Curiosity killed the cat._

And the Changed.


	4. ¡Viva La Gloria!

**Part 4 - ¡Viva La Gloria!**

_" . . . she is the saint of all the sinners . . . "_

Fire scorched the lower right side of Christian's cheek, but he could feel the heat across his entire face as the Changed girl screeched in obvious fear. She was pretty damn powerful, he gave her that, but there was no chance in hell she was going to outrun him.

The little fire-starter ran fast, even for a Changed. Stumbling out of the room, Christian saw her legs sprinting at a blindingly fast speed across the hallway, her feet never seeming to touch the floor. With a low, frustrated growl, he started after her rapidly, trying to make up time for the head start she'd gotten.

As the Changed girl sped past hallways, making sharp, unpredictable turns, the lit candles went out in puffs of smoke. Christian knew she was doing it, trying to slow him down by getting rid of any guiding light. He didn't stop moving, but kept his eyes wide open to make sure he wouldn't slam face-first into a wall.

Suddenly, she took a sharp turn down a hallway that Christian wouldn't have noticed if she had ran right passed it. It was so dark and bland that it seemed to be a wall at first glance. The hall was long and seemed to stretch on forever without any end.

The girl had disappeared from Christian's sight in the darkness, but he could hear the patter of her feet in contrast the steady pounding of each step he took. She wasn't far ahead, but still, she was fast. Every second, the tempo of her steps increased frantically.

A light was soon visible against the darkness of the hallway. The white glow was unmistakably moonlight. A door was wide open at the end of the hall, leading directly to the outside. Christian gasped in surprise and came to a stop a few yards away from the door. The Changed girl, however, didn't slow down at all and simply slipped outside.

Steeling himself, Christian followed her. No one, including him and his friends, could be safe with a Changed running around, especially one that powerful. He knew what he had to do, but he'd never done it before. A few Burnouts had been killed by Christian's hand, but never a Changed. He'd encountered so few of them that Changed were never a problem. Judging by the way the Changed girl had attacked him so quickly, he knew she was a threat.

Christian paused the moment he stepped outside. Slowly, his hand slid to the belt loop of his jeans. He fingers brushed against a holster, and he firmly gripped the handle of his pistol. He had used it only a few times, only for a few particularly troublesome Burnouts. He remembered the scorch of the fire on his face and made his choice.

Frowning, Christian suddenly noticed something strange. Being so absorbed in his thoughts, he had at first failed to noticed the Changed girl was frozen on the spot about thirty feet in front of him. Her tiny back was rigid, and though he couldn't see her face, he could guess her eyes were locked on something in the distance.

Gloria cursed silently in anger. The back door was her only escape, and she only then realized there was very little cover in the courtyard behind the church. Her anger only lasted for a second, though, suddenly turning into a frozen terror. It wasn't because of the Normal that followed behind her. It was because of the movement she saw in front of her.

It was happening all over again. The same thing happened anywhere she went.

"Not now," Gloria begged silently. "Not now, please, please, not now!"

The courtyard led to an open field with unkempt grass and no trees. Among the swaying grasses, there was an unnatural movement that just couldn't be from the wind. A low growl came from the swaying grass on the ground in front of her, and at the same time, she heard a clicking sound behind her.

A gun. There was a gun in the Normal's hand. Gloria spun on her heels and saw the short barrel of the pistol pointed in her direction. A raw shriek ripped through Gloria's throat. The second she screamed, a loud, feral snarl resounded behind her.

The ground vibrated as two pairs of giant legs swooped past Gloria in mere seconds. Her breath caught, but she maintained her footing. A sharp intake of breath came from the Normal boy. The gun clattered to the ground as he dropped it in surprise. Gloria could only watch, eyes wide, as two Burnouts sprang at the Normal, far away from Gloria.

"Hello, Gloria."

Gasping in surprise, Gloria turned to look behind her at the sound of the chilling voice. There as a Hispanic twinge in the voice, deep beneath the ice of it. A third Burnout, kneeling, grinned playfully. His dark brown hair almost covered his eyes completely. Gloria knew if she could see those eyes, they'd be the same as they always were: black, cold, and soulless.

"Antonio." Her response came curtly, but her heart felt like it was pounding out of her ribcage. She refused to look directly at him, choosing to cast her eyes anywhere else.

"It is getting quite tiresome, you know," Antonio said, he grin disappearing along with his playfulness.

"Following me?" Gloria scowled accusingly.

"No. Saving you." He pointed to where the gun lay on the ground. "Do you think you'd be alive right now if I hadn't been watching?"

"I was doing just fine on my own."

"Not from where I was standing." At least the playfulness came back when he said it. A sudden movement sent Gloria on edge. One of Antonio's hand came near her. She cringed, waiting for him to grab her in a fist. Instead, he extended his index finger and stroked her arm softly. "Do you know how I would feel?" Antonio asked softly.

"About what?"

"If I lost you . . ." His voice was mournful now. It made Gloria's heart ache, reminding her of the way he used to be before he was a Burnout. "You always question why I still follow you . . . And I think you already know the answer. The only thing I have left is you . . . and I'm not going to let you go. Ever."

"You look like you've made some new friends on your own," Gloria replied dully, pretending the words he said hadn't slashed at her heart like a cold blade.

Antonio's eyes flickered to the other two Burnouts that still struggled with the Normal boy. The boy must have been strong, in Gloria's opinion, if he wasn't even dead yet. "Not friends," Antonio said with a hard, icy edge to his voice. "Just tools."

"Antonio," Gloria said sternly tried to explain again. "What we had before . . . is gone. There's nothing in the world can bring it back. Stop. Following. Me." Her blood pumped even harder, anxiously waiting for his response to her harsh words.

"Tell me you don't love me."

A pause.

"What?"

"Look at me, and tell me you don't love me, Viva la Gloria." Her heart skipped a long, dreadful beat when she heard the nickname he used to call her. This was so many times worse than him being angry. Antonio's finger stopped stroking her arm, and he brought his entire hand around her back, cupping her tenderly without picking her up. Her body tingled subconsciously.

Hesitantly, Gloria's eyes traveled up to his face. Her heart tore up when she saw his expression. It was longing and broken-hearted. She could see so much of his former self that it was almost like being in the old days. Back when he was sweet and caring. In some ways, he still was. But he was also a Burnout.

"I . . . I . . ." The words just couldn't come out. She couldn't lie.

Fortunately, she didn't have to.

A sharp, painful cry came from the Normal boy. Antonio's eyes left Gloria to look up at the boy, and he took his hand away from her. Quickly turning her head, she saw what had made the Normal cry out. The gun was still on the floor, untouched. One Burnout had the boy's arms pinned behind his back, while the other had his fingers curled around the boy's neck.

"What do we do with him, master?" the Burnout holding the Normal's neck asked in a growling voice. Gloria shuddered heavily at the way Antonio was called 'master'.

"Snap his neck and be done with it," Antonio said coldly, but there was amusement in his voice. He wanted to see the death.

Gloria took in a sharp breath. Like a bucket of cold water to her body, she suddenly remembered why she couldn't love Antonio anymore, although she knew her former feelings for him were still rooted deep in her core. He was a monster, in every sense of the word. His type of killing was for fun, even though this time was an exception, considering the gun. She also knew that the moment the boy was dead, Antonio would take her away to wherever it was he was hiding out now. Her love was still there for Antonio, and she knew that being exposed to him for too long would make it break out. She felt her heart, yet again, increase tempo as she made her decision. She needed to get away from Antonio, even if it resulted in her own death.

She couldn't love a monster.

Gloria sprinted away from Antonio with her Changed speed before he could even react to what she was about to do.

The world was spinning wildly in front of Christian's eyes. He gasped for air as the hands on his throat steadily tightened, his vision beginning to blacken. The Burnout that kept his arms pinned behind his back had a firm, painful grip. His heart abruptly dropped to his stomach when he heard the "master" of the Burnouts, who had been out of the fight, order for Christian's neck to be broken.

Struggling was futile, but Christian did it anyway. The Burnout holding his neck tightened his hands once again. A cruel smile was glued to his face. The face of someone who was not only willing to kill, but someone who enjoyed it.

The hands suddenly disappeared from Christian's neck as the Burnout began to scream in what seemed to be pain. His arms were suddenly free when the Burnout behind him began to screech as well. Now that he wasn't restricted, Christian fell to the ground, gasping frantically for air.

Fire. There was fire everywhere. It covered both Burnouts, the flames eating their skin hungrily. The leader Burnout looked about as surprised as Christian was. The Changed girl had a focused expression on her face, but strangely looked calm and confident. She lowered her arms when the fire kept itself going.

"Gloria!" the leader Burnout roared out in anger.

"Stay the hell away from me!" the girl yelled in response, strong and confident. Her eyes suddenly locked on Christian's and then on the gun which still lay on the ground, just out of Christian's reach.

Turning her back on the leader Burnout, the girl ran toward the gun and slammed her tiny body into it, making it slide toward Christian quickly. The other two Burnouts were still frantically getting the flames off their bodies. The fire was fading, and their skin was charred underneath. Unfortunately, they were both very much alive, and very, very pissed.

"Grab the gun, idiot!" the girl shouted. After a few dazed seconds, he realized she was yelling at him. His hand shot out to the gun, gripping it tightly.

The leader Burnout, who was running in Christian's direction, halted in mid-step the moment the gun was up. If there was one thing that Burnouts were more afraid of than the sun, it was a gun. Suddenly feeling confident, Christian stood up, backing away so that all three Burnouts were in his line of sight.

"Get the girl!" the leader Burnout shouted. Without hesitating, one of the lackey Burnouts sprang to grab the Changed girl. It all seemed to happen in slow motion. Christian saw the look of terror that replaced the cool confidence on the Changed girl's face.

In a split-second reaction, Christian raised the gun and pulled the trigger rapidly.

The shot rang out through the air like an explosion, and then was accompanied by the thump of the lackey Burnout's body to the ground. It fell only a foot away from the Changed girl. Her eyes grew wider as she watched the blood begin to pool around the Burnout's head, spreading to her direction. Her mouth opened, pouring out a horrified scream.

"You're still mine, Gloria!" the leader Burnout said in a hard voice when the girl was finished screaming. "This is not over."

Christian's mind went blank for what seemed to be hours because once he got back to his right mind, the Changed girl had fallen to her knees in the pool of blood. The leader Burnout and the lackey Burnout had completely disappeared from sight, fleeing from the gun. He figured they wouldn't be coming back for a while.

The Changed girl, Christian guessed her name was Gloria, was breathing in harsh pants, almost as if she was hyperventilating. Christian took a step toward her, but her terrified eyes shot up immediately to meet his. She scooted backward, suddenly seeming to be unaware of the blood underneath her. Her eyes no longer looked at his, but at the gun that was still in his hands.

"Please . . . Please don't . . ." Gloria begged so softly he could hardly hear her. She scooted even farther from him, eyes still trained on the gun.

Eyeing the scorched skin of the Burnout, Christian came to the sudden realization that she had saved his life. His neck would have snapped, and it would have been his blood on the floor. She had even made it perfectly clear that she wanted for him to grab the gun to defend himself (and her too). Christian knew she probably would have set him completely on fire too, if she really had wanted him dead. Now she simply looked pitiful, covered in blood that mixed with tears as she let them spill out over her face.

"I won't . . . Gloria, right? . . . I won't," Christian spoke softly, lowering the gun to the ground and raising his hands away from it.

Gloria's eyes froze on him when he spoke, nodding slightly to acknowledge that was indeed her name. Beneath the frightened look on her face, she looked skeptical. She really did believe he was going to kill her. Her breaths still came out hard, and Christian could see the way her body was trembling, probably both from exhaustion and fear. She seemed to suddenly break out of her trance. Looking down at the blood that covered her, tears came out much more rapidly, her breaths turning into thick sobs.

Finally, the exhaustion seemed to win over the fear of death. Gloria let her body fall forward. She folded her arms in front of her and buried her face. The sobs began to settle down a little until her body became perfectly still.

Silence took over the courtyard swiftly. Christian stared at her for a few minutes, still feeling the adrenaline rush of the past events that had just taken place. She didn't budge, and her breathing became even, making her back rise and fall slowly.

The still silence was suddenly shattered.

"What the hell happened here?" Christian jumped in surprise, barely realizing that Diego, accompanied by Lotus, stood behind him, both of their faces an mask of equal shock. Jae was peeking out from the back door of the church, mouth agape in shock. Christian's eyes looked at the scene and wondered how it must of looked. A dead Burnout. A live (but passed out) Changed girl, covered in the Burnout's blood. And the gun laying on the ground near Christian.

Christian's response came out slowly

"I honestly have no damn idea."


	5. Before the Lobotomy

**Part 5 - Before the Lobotomy**

_" . . . remember to learn to forget . . ."_

A horrible, screaming headache was Gloria's first greeting when she awakened. It felt like her head was splitting open from the skull. She groaned in frustration and pain, pushing herself into a sitting position. There was only darkness when she opened her eyes. In fact, it felt like there was more light behind her eyelids than there was when she had them opened.

Where was she? The terrible, scorching memories of the recent events surged through her mind like wild fire. Suddenly much more alert, she stood up. The ground beneath her was hard, cold, and felt like rough wood. Trying to calm her breathing frantically, Gloria lifted one hand and called to her Power, making a small flame appear on the palm her hand. It offered a great amount of light, considering how pitch black it was, wherever she was.

The area was small and enclosed, suddenly making Gloria feel claustrophobic. Her attempts to calm herself had been all in vain. Her eyes darted around the small chamber. It was barely big enough to hold one Normal! From what she could see, she was standing on some sort of bench connected to the wall.

Another thing immediately struck Gloria. The entire room was made of wood! Her fire could set it alight with the slightest thought, which would leave her to burn alive. She wasn't invincible to fire at all. It never touched her skin when she summoned it from her body - there was always a small space between her flesh and the flame.

With a small gasp of fear, Gloria made her flame - and only light - go was a sudden rustling sound outside the small room. Voices from behind the wooden walls suddenly filled the air.

"Did you hear that?" The first voice seemed to be whispering, but it was for sure loud enough for Gloria to hear. Her lungs tightened. Loud voices could only mean two things - Normals or Burnouts. Her breathing quickened rapidly.

"Yeah, I think it's awake." The second voice made no attempt to be soft. It sounded strangely disgusted and repulsed, maybe even a little annoyed. Anger bubbled up in Gloria. She wanted desperately to scream that she wasn't an "it"!

"Only one way to find out," the first voice muttered, sounding weirdly nervous and anxious.

Light blinded Gloria momentarily, but that didn't stop her from scrambling backwards until she was pressed against the hard, wooden wall, cringing away from the two men that suddenly filled her vision. No, not men, she decided. They were definently in their late teens, at least. The black haired one, Gloria realized, was the boy who had saved her from Antonio. She flinched slightly when she saw the burnt mark on his cheek. Ouch.

After a few silent, uncomfortable moments, Gloria bolted forward as a desperate, pathetic escape attempt. Before even taking five steps, something gigantic forced her to be slammed onto her back. With the wind knocked out of her, she couldn't even scream.

One of them, the blond one, had her pinned to the bench, quickly adding pressure to keep her from squirming. It was almost impossible to breath. If her bone structure hadn't been enhanced by the Change, she would have been crushed in seconds.

A low, feral growl came from deep within her throat. Fire bubbled up in her body, ready to burn the blond boy's hand to simmering ashes. She knew he felt the heat emanating her body because his hand flinched slightly, but went back to being firm and angry.

The sound of a gun clicking suddenly filled Gloria's ears. She managed to crane her neck high enough to see a gun was directed at her. A female Normal, who was standing directly behind the black haired boy, held it tightly with a furious expression on her face.

"Use your fire, and I will fire right back," the girl warned in a thick Chinese accent. To punctuate her words, she clicked her gun again. The fire inside Gloria died immediately.

"Uh . . . Diego, you might want to ease up a little," Christian said nervously, his eyes glancing from the Changed girl to his friend. "I think you might be-"

"Hurting it?" Diego interrupted, glancing over at Christian with blazingly angry eyes. "We already let it live. I think it can survive a little pain." Christian fell silent, knowing Diego was pissed. Very, very pissed. Instead of killing the girl, Gloria, right away, like Diego had wanted to, Christian had insisted on keeping her alive.

"Why are we even doing this?" Lotus questioned, almost whining. Naturally, she was against the whole thing. Her idea had been to kill the girl on the spot. She looked more than happy to fire right away as she aimed the gun at the Changed.

"You know why," Christian muttered.

The girl was being kept inside a holy confessional, a very small room split in half where a priest would sit and listen to people confess their sins. She was locked in the farthest part of the room, so there was two doors blocking her exit from the main chamber of the church. It was entirely made of wood, and Christian had the feeling Gloria wasn't dumb enough to set it on fire, killing herself in the process. It was entirely dark in the space she was being held. Christian, Diego, and Lotus had waited in the other half of the confessional for any sort of noise that would indicate Gloria's awakening. Jae, much to his annoyance, had been ordered to stay as far away from the Changed girl as possible.

"What kind of trick are you trying to pull?" Diego barked at Gloria, the fingers that held her down twitched slightly.

Her eyes were wide as saucers as she looked up at Diego. Christian was about to tell Diego to back off again, but Gloria suddenly choked out, "Wha-?" She squirmed under the rough grip, but to no avail. "What the hell do you mean?" she finally was able to growl, despite the pressure on her body.

"Why did you attack the Burnouts to save me?" Christian asked quickly, sensing Diego was about to snap from impatience. It was confusing, having a Changed who had risked her life to save a Normal's. Christian wasn't sure whether to interrogate her the way Diego was, or maybe be a little more considerate.

The little Changed girl just stared up at him with wide eyes. She cried out in pain when Diego suddenly exerted more pressure and leaned closer to her. "Answer!" Diego snapped at her.

"Well, damn! She can't answer if she can't breath!" Christian shoved Diego's hand away from the girl. For a moment, it seemed as if she was going to jump off the bench and escape, but her eyes darted to Lotus, who still stood behind Diego and Christian, gun aimed. She backed away until she was pressed against the wooden wall behind her. She was angry, there was no doubt about that, but it was safe to say she didn't want to die either.

"Oh, this is so pointless, Christian!" Lotus complained. "Why can't we just kill it and be done with it?" Gloria visibly flinched, and there was a spark in her eyes when she was referred to as an "it".

"This isn't pointless!" Christian argued. "Don't you get it? If the Changed are starting to show their humanity, then there's obviously hope that the world can start to rebuild itself." His eyes focused back on Gloria, who was staring at him with was only seemed to be fear and anger mixed in a strange way. He felt another small pang of sympathy, but knew that he couldn't let his guard down, not with knowledge of her Power being so dangerous.

"I'm done with this," Diego sighed begrudgingly and stood up. "That . . . thing . . . is your responsibility, your problem. If you want to keep alive as your little experiment, fine, but don't expect me to let it live if I see it anywhere outside of this room." With that, he left the confessional with a stormy look on his face.

"Deal," Christian nodded. At least Diego trusted him enough to make decisions. "I'll make sure she stays here." He looked back at Gloria with a slight smile. "You won't be giving us any trouble, will you?" No response, predictably, except for her look of confusion and fear.

Lotus shoved the gun into Christian's hands roughly. "Stop talking to it like it is one of us," she said, shooting Gloria a venomous glare before stalking out of the small room.

An uncomfortable silence hung in the air after the door was slammed, leaving Christian and Gloria alone in the small double room, lit only by a single candle. She stayed with her back against the wall on the wooden bench, breathing hard. Christian backed away slightly, but still blocked the open door of the little room Gloria was trapped in.

"Why are you doing this?" Gloria snapped at the dark-haired guy, Christian, a few seconds after the door was slammed shut. She saw a twinkle of curiosity in his eyes as she spoke, as if he was watching an animal speaking.

"Doing what?" he asked casually, as if there wasn't a huge fire-scar marring his face, and she had been the one to cause it. He lowered the gun to the ground as a feeble sign a peace. Gloria nearly rolled her eyes. As if he couldn't just pick it up again and shoot her if he wanted to.

"Is that all I am?" Gloria questioned. "A little science experiment to see if I have emotions?" She scoffed, shaking her head disgustedly.

It was amazing how all Normals were under the impression that every single Changed had lost their humanity, changing into mindless, predatory animals. It was true, some had. But there were still some like her, Airmid, and Rio. Gloria's heart stung to think about her "family". What would Airmid and Rio do when they discovered she was gone? She pushed those thoughts away and dealt with the matter at hand.

To Gloria's surprise, Christian chuckled. "Hey, this 'science experiment' is what's keeping you alive." His hand reached up to brush his fingers on the fire-scar on his cheek. "If you had set Diego's face on fire instead of mine . . . you wouldn't be talking right now," he said softly. "So, my suggestion is that you don't try to pull off any escape attempts. They will kill you." His light tone had suddenly darkened into a serious one, making Gloria shudder.

"Well, you can see I have feelings, can't you?" Gloria said, shocked by the broken tone in her own voice. She shook her head, feeling like a little girl again. "What's the point of keeping me here if you already know that I'm sentient?"

"I can see that you are," Christian leaned forward abruptly, causing the girl to flinch back with wide eyes. His expression softened when he saw the look of fear on her face. She kept on eyeing the gun that lay on the floor near him, only an arm's length away. "You may have attacked me, but . . . you were just scared, weren't you?"

Gloria looked away, squeezing her eyes shut. "Fear is an emotion," she said softly. "Yes, I was afraid." He could here the frustrated tone beneath the frightened one. She wanted out of the wooden room, of course.

"I know you can feel just as much as Normals can," Christian continued. "But they, Diego and Lotus, don't know that." He made his voice as apologetic as possible. "If I can prove that you aren't dangerous, maybe you'll get out of here."

"I don't want to be in here ever, at all!" Gloria suddenly cried out, turning her head. Christian looked away guiltily when he saw the tears in her eyes. "If you really believe me, then just let me go!"

"That's not- . . . I can't," Christian said. "You won't like this, but . . . I've see what you can do with your Power. I-I still don't know if you can be trusted," he admitted, looking back at her.

"I'm sorry about what I did to your face," she said, her voice pleading. "I'm sorry about running into those Burnouts, too. This wasn't supposed to happen . . ." Gloria's face was pained. He could see something more behind the tears. She wasn't just worried about herself, he decided.

"You're not alone, are you?" Christian asked, a new, dangerous edge to his voice. Gloria recoiled when she realized he was leaning closer again, this time with a serious look on his face. The fire-scar only made it scarier. "That's why you're so worried about staying here for so long."

Gloria winced. She thought of that horrible monster, Diego, finding Rio and Airmid. Just imagining Airmid being found at all made her sick to her stomach. For two years, Gloria had taken care of the little girl. She would sing her to sleep sometimes and even stay up all night with her when it was too dangerous to sleep. Rio was important too, of course, but Airmid was like her baby.

"I've been alone since I Changed," Gloria replied dully, praying her lie wouldn't be detected. "Besides, the Changed aren't known to travel in packs, are they?" Of course, that wasn't true. Even the crazy Changed sometimes stuck together, the way Burnouts did. Playing dumb was the only thing Gloria could think of.

Christian raised an eyebrow. "Alone, huh?" Suddenly, Gloria saw something in her peripheral vision. Christian's hand was moving towards her, slowly, cautiously. Every nerve in her body screamed to unleash her fire Power to defend herself. Taking a shuddering breath, Gloria looked away.

Her heart skipped a beat as she felt two of his fingers brush up against her arm. She shivered, remembering Antonio's touch from earlier. Glancing at her arm, Gloria realized Christian was touching the dried Burnout blood that hadn't come off. Christian frowned, looking confused and frustrated.

"If you've been alone all this time, then how did that Burnout know your name?" Christian pulled his hand away, and Gloria let out a sigh of relief.

At least she didn't need to lie about this. Antonio was long gone, but Gloria wondered how long he would stay idle until he came after her again. He had an uncanny way of always finding her, not matter how far away she got. Rio had always blamed it on Burnout spies.

"He's my ex-boyfriend," Gloria admitted, trying not to choke up as she explained. "Becoming a Burnout made him a little . . . obsessive." She tried not to look Christian straight in the eye. She wasn't telling the whole truth, but she wasn't lying either. "He's been following me around since the end of the world."

"Where did you live before the end of the world?" Gloria was relieved to hear his curious voice instead of a interrogative voice. She looked up at him again. The hard edges of his face were gone, and he seemed more at ease.

Feeling encouraged, Gloria answered. "I'm from Arizona." She couldn't hide proud tone in her voice. Walking from Arizona to Oklahoma was pretty crazy, especially being six inches tall.

Christian's eyes widened until Gloria thought they were going to pop out. "How did you manage that?" Gloria was at least happy he seemed to believe her. It wasn't a lie, after all.

"Two years is a long time," Gloria replied softly.

Two years, and she had gained a Changed family, one to replace the one she had lost. Anger bubbled up inside of her again. Her Changed family was being ripped away from her by this stupid Normal who just wanted lock her up like an animal, like a specimen. Getting a hold of herself, Gloria realized the animistic part of being a Changed was taking over.

"Can I be alone, please?" Gloria asked quickly before Christian could speak another sentence. She tried to hide the fact she was breathing hard, trying to control herself. One screw up, one flame, and she would be killed. Her fury couldn't be taken out on Christian, or anyone.

Christian frowned. For a few horrible moments, Gloria thought he suspected something. "I can't leave you alone completely. I'm going to have to stay outside the second door, a least," he said wryly, probably remembering his deal with Diego. He stared at her for a few moments, and then reached up to grab the handle of the door.

The door was closed softly, but Gloria still flinched at the sound. The second door closed, and Christian was gone. She looked around helplessly in the darkness. There was no way she could risk setting the place on fire to escape, she remembered. Death by her own hand didn't sound very appealing. Her heart clenched, suddenly thinking of Rio and Airmid. She had to escape, she knew. There was no telling was Rio would do if he found out her fate. He wouldn't leave the church, not without Gloria. She refused to think about what Airmid would do.

Sudden exhaustion suddenly settled over Gloria. She was still feeling the after effects of using so much Power in one night. Thinking about escape wasn't something worth doing with a weary mind. She knew she needed to lay in the wait, until perhaps Christian trusted her enough to let his guard down around her.

Troubled by images of Lotus or Diego coming in the middle of the night to find her, Gloria curled up in the corner of the wooden room. It was impossible to even tell the time. There were no windows, no indication of day and night. Sighing heavily, Gloria tried to fall asleep, hoping Christian was a good guard.

Everyone had fallen asleep. Jae looked around the main room of the church thoughtfully. Diego and Lotus were curled up together on a pew, slumbering peacefully. Christian had probably fallen asleep because he knew Diego and Lotus never woke until after at least a few hours. Jae was also very aware that Christian was a heavy sleeper.

It had been frustrating, being treated like a little kid. Lotus had ushered Jae to the other side of the church when Christian had moved the Changed girl to the confessional. Diego kept on telling him how dangerous the girl was, and how he couldn't go near her, saying she was a monster.

Jae walked slowly to the confessional door, his sneakers hardly making a sound against the hard marble floor. It wasn't just curiosity that had led him to sneaking around to see the Changed girl. He was mostly very annoyed of the way Diego and Lotus had acted as if he couldn't take care of himself. Christian had said nothing, neither striking down the girl or defending her completely. He had only insisted that she be kept alive.

Being impulsive, Jae had to check out what the big deal was. She obviously wasn't that dangerous if they had let her live, even though his sister and Diego hadn't been happy about it at all.

Clutching a wide, lit candle, Jae walked right past Christian without waking him up. The door creaked slightly as Jae opened it. He flinched and looked around the room. Everyone stayed fast asleep, fortunately. The flicker of the candle looked very creepy as he walked into the darkened room that contained the Changed girl.

No sign of sound or movement came from the second door, which Jae was sure the girl was behind. Looking back once more, Jae made sure everyone was still and quiet. Taking a deep breath, he turned the handle of the second door, ready to see the thing that Diego had called a monster.


End file.
